Oxalic Acid Demonstration – Report

Murton. Sunday 18th January 2015
Host: Alan Johnston, assisted by Kate Wallace and John Fuller
There was a good turnout on a cold morning with a covering of snow on the ground – ideal conditions for treating bees with oxalic acid for the reduction of varroa mites.
Alan started off by explaining why it is necessary to treat bees at this time of the year – being the depths of winter there will be little, if any, brood. Thus any varroa mites will be living on the adult bees making them susceptible to oxalic treatment.
Oxalic acid in neat form can be dangerous, so Alan’s recommendation was to buy it in liquid form.
It can be bought ready mixed in any size from one hive upwards.
Application is by syringe, at the rate of 5ml per seam of bees. We were shown simple syringes to a more sophisticated device with a bottle holding a litre of liquid feeding an automatically refilling gun.
Outside in the apiary Alan took one colony, Kate the second and I the third. Those present split themselves into three groups and each individual had a go at trickling oxalic acid onto a seam of bees.